Chelsea host Brighton at 10pm tonight. Although the opponents are stronger, it is crucial for Pochettino to win this match. Chelsea have the upper hand on paper, and with home games, a win is the most direct and effective way to cement Mauricio Pochettino's position. However, attacking goals can be scored, but defence can also concede goals, which is Chelsea's main problem at the moment. In the last two games, Chelsea have scored five goals but conceded eight, which has been linked to the team's poor defensive performance.
Despite the quality of the team's backline and the support of top centre-back Silva, the high number of goals conceded suggests that the defensive performance is not satisfactory. After losing 4-1 to Newcastle United in the previous round, Mauricio Pochettino cancelled his team's holiday and was clearly very unhappy with his team's performance. Now, it will be interesting to see how Chelsea will be fighting in the post-'retreat' game. The stats show that Brighton have outperformed Chelsea.
Under the leadership of the leader "Three-Goal King", Brighton won two more games than their opponents, scored six more goals than their opponents, and assisted 20-12, eight more times. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to think that Chelsea would win comfortably against Brighton. Even though Brighton sent away McAllister, with the help of the Japanese international "three-goal king", the team's tactical framework has not changed much, which is still commendable. All things considered, the outcome of this game is difficult to predict.
While Chelsea have the upper hand on paper, no manager in history has been able to translate that into victory. Maybe there's a serious problem within the Chelsea squad.